Fatal drowning of Jeffrey Lynn-Ellis Spade reported in social media and news media, attached:
https://www.wlns.com/news/death-of-kayaker-suspicious-ingham-county-sheriffs-office-says/
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2023/08/14/kayaker-drowning-grand-river-jeffrey-lynn-ellis-spade-birchfield-park/70589636007/
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2023/08/13/grand-river-kayaker-drowning-burchfield-park-grand-river/70584301007/
https://www.facebook.com/inghamcountysheriff/posts/pfbid0oraBet9QQpWiJEfXtiJVUM3wX6cvhqs7yNY6MQQsb6jATG5hBboMiTXmGiVMyPjTl
https://www.facebook.com/inghamcountysheriff/posts/pfbid02AGX6e1E8sEAgfoNXm15QzGpQzFoBLTjnqZxEstRJ3G6YXW8cQrbfftdYWSVF1Tbdl
This reviewer is very familiar with that area, and was able to verify water conditions as I was hiking immediately near that location earlier in the day.
This river stretch is local destination for recreational boaters. Slow Moving water with occasional shoals, shallow riffles, and lots of snags. Local liveries sometimes cut back snags for easier movement. The victim was paddling with a group, but some left before incident was reported. The park closes at dusk, which was about 8:30pm. Recreational boats for night boating will usually take out (or put-on) at the bridge crossing on Columbia Road. Night boating groups will use headlamps and/or glow sticks for illumination; banks of the river are very shadowed with vegetation. In the darkness, the group lost track of the victim. Victim was not wearing a pfd, and may have been wading instead of paddling when contact lost. Party did not notice victim missing until reaching the bridge. County Sheriff was called to incident at 11:00 pm.
Ingham County Sheriff's Office via FB**Update - The Lansing man that died has been identified as 30-year-old Jeffrey Lynn-Ellis Spade. There were no obvious signs of trauma to Mr. Spade. The Ingham County Sheriff's Office Detective Bureau is waiting on an autopsy report to determine the cause of death.**
On Friday, August 11, shortly after 11 p.m., Ingham County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to Burchfield Park in Delhi Twp. for a suspicious situation. A group of kayakers advised a 30-year-old Lansing man had gone missing from their group. The Capital Area Dive Team responded to search the area and later located the deceased subject in the river south of the park. Anyone with information about the incident should call the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office at 517-676-8202.
